Burson-Marsteller China has launched D/BM, a digital and social media influencer practice. Zaheer Nooruddin, the firm’s lead digital strategist for Greater China, will lead the new practice.

The practice will provide online engagement and digital strategies, measurement and monitoring services, and identify influencers.

We spoke with Vibrant‘s Jonathan Gardner about digital trends across Asia. Gardner has lived and worked in the region, and recently paid a visit (just for fun). Check out some of that info here.

In the days following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, people have been sharing news about the aftermath, recovery efforts, and how they can help as far and wide as the Internet will allow. However, a reader brought up an issue with spreading the word using Facebook tools.

“Sentiment can be lost,” Jonathan Gardner, director of comms at Vibrant told us. A friend, he told us in an email, sent him a link to a CNN.com story with a Facebook social plug-in. Along the right side of the page, it listed stories that friends “like,” among them, one about a tsunami threat to Russia, Hawaii, and Taiwan. “No one wants to ‘like’ a tragedy,” Gardner writes.

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Last week, we asked what the PR industry was looking for on Quora. Some of the questions under the PR header currently include “Is the press release really dead?” “What’s the best tool for PR people in 2011 and why?” and “What key criteria do companies now use for a regional or global PR agency of record?” (That last question has no comments.)

So far, we’ve gotten some mixed responses about how useful the site is for PR pros.

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For some time now, marketers have been watching digital media blur the lines between disciplines. In today’s guest post, Jonathan Gardner, director of communications for Vibrant, discusses why PR pros should continue to be mindful what’s happening in the online advertising world and how it will impact public relations. Vibrant is an online tech company that “aligns” words with video and other content across the Web. Its clients include Microsoft and Unilever.

“This year will bring ‘super-relevant’ dynamic ads with custom content that changes based on the content of a site’s page,” Gardner writes.

Click through to read more.

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Former HP VP David Shane has joined Juniper Networks as VP of corporate communications. PRNewser reported in August that Shane was leaving HP to start his own firm. Shane will lead Juniper’s global communications effort, including analyst and executive communications. He was also previously an SVP at Weber Shandwick with the firm’s corporate issues and entertainment practices.

Richard Kanareck has been appointed MD of Fleishman-Hillard‘s London office. Most recently, Kanareck was comms director for eBay Europe. He will report to regional president Kevin Bell.

William Brent, Weber Shandwick‘s head of the Cleantech practice, has been promoted to EVP. He will relocate to the firm’s San Francisco and Silicon Valley offices.

David Herrick has been named GM of MWW Group‘s New York office. He was previously EVP of the firm’s global consumer marketing practice.

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